Schools unable to protect children.

[Thems Fighting Words]

Two stories, one in America and another here in Oz have really got me thinking on how ineffective schools are at protecting our children.

The first story is of an autistic child who was assaulted on a school bus but the school is unwilling to release any details (even to the more than likely, perpetrator's mother), though the incident was captured on camera: Woman says son is bus aggressor; wants video | News-Leader.com | Springfield News-Leader

The second story is of a five year old boy who was scalped, stoned and generally bullied by his school appointed "buddy": School pays out $150,000 after bullied boy scalped | The Courier-Mail

These sort of events really set off warning lights that schools are failing in their duty of care. I always knew high schools were useless at protecting students, but I expected better from primary schools.

[sirdarksol]

First of all, I'm going to presume that "scalped" doesn't mean the removal of the scalp in this case (that's what it means in the US). I would guess that such a horrific act would be focused on in an article regarding that.

The first story is an example of over-reaction to a well-meaning law. I saw the same thing happen with a health information privacy act. Doctors' offices would refuse to give child patients' parents their medical info shortly after the act passed because they had been told that any breach of the act would be severely punished. Thus, many believed that over-reaction was better than under-reaction.
That there was a bus with two autistic children and no non-driver aides really concerns me. In my area, the "short bus" ferries the special-needs kids and has at least one adult in addition to the driver. This adult's job is to monitor and protect the children. If a kid has a seizure, or if there's an attack, or if anything else happens, the driver can keep his/her eyes on the road long enough to pull over.

I agree that there are cases where the schools are failing to provide a safe place for their students, but there's also the level of bullying to be considered. That second story blows me away. If a child is that violent, there are warning signs at home and the parents either aren't paying attention or are blowing it off as childishness. Too many of my old school bullies (I was/am a nerd) had parents who just didn't care. We're talking about kids who would do things that would get the police called and mom/dad just wouldn't do anything about it.

[disgruntled]

thanks for clearing that up Sirdarksol... i couldn't stop thinking "how do they even know how to scalp someone and why wasn't there much more serious charges?"

in general i feel a little ill now.... that last story really disturbs me. i could see one kid doing that to a child, he might have conduct disorder or something, but it sounded like there was group of them. so then it is not an issue of one bad kid, but an issue of human nature, which disturbs me.

the first story is interesting. i wonder how serious the "fight" was. it sounds like (especially by the reaction of the parents of the child who might have done the attack) that it was a behavioural issue that would be related to the childs unique situation. it sounds like it could have and should have been completely avoided. like Sirdarsol said, they should have had attendents on that bus to supervise.

personally i think that the bigger issue about the lack of protection schools offer really relates to new forms of internet bullying...... it might be a bigger issue in Canada..... but nowdays kids make pages about hating a kid or posting them doing embarassing things..... and that seems like something that can't be controlled.

[sirdarksol]

virtual bullying is a big deal in the US, too. We've had some pretty extreme cases, including one guy who used Facebook to gain ways to physically molest his football team-mates, and a mom who drove a kid to suicide by tormenting her online.

[Thems Fighting Words]

Originally Posted by disgruntled

thanks for clearing that up Sirdarksol... i couldn't stop thinking "how do they even know how to scalp someone and why wasn't there much more serious charges?"

in general i feel a little ill now.... that last story really disturbs me. i could see one kid doing that to a child, he might have conduct disorder or something, but it sounded like there was group of them. so then it is not an issue of one bad kid, but an issue of human nature, which disturbs me.

the first story is interesting. i wonder how serious the "fight" was. it sounds like (especially by the reaction of the parents of the child who might have done the attack) that it was a behavioural issue that would be related to the childs unique situation. it sounds like it could have and should have been completely avoided. like Sirdarsol said, they should have had attendents on that bus to supervise.

personally i think that the bigger issue about the lack of protection schools offer really relates to new forms of internet bullying...... it might be a bigger issue in Canada..... but nowdays kids make pages about hating a kid or posting them doing embarassing things..... and that seems like something that can't be controlled.

Yeah, scalping (as in ripping out the kids hair and part of their scalp along with it) not actually removing the whole scalp. I don't think the attacker had a behavioral disorder because he was a school appointed "buddy".
As for Internet Bullying, i guess it is serious. But being psychological and online, younger kids (early primary) probably won't be too affected. Hopefully those who are targeted have enough strength of character not too be adversely affected. Though some have killed themselves over it, I just don't see it as being as bad. Maybe because I'm very centered and don't get insulted easily or maybe because I'm not that tech savy.

[sirdarksol]

Originally Posted by Thems Fighting Words

As for Internet Bullying, i guess it is serious. But being psychological and online, younger kids (early primary) probably won't be too affected.

First of all, psychological bullying is just as bad (if not worse) than physical bullying. Physical bullying rarely lasts long, because there are signs that it is happening, and there's usually at least one responsible adult in a kid's life to see the bruises and do something about it. I was only hit twice as a kid, but I was treated like garbage at times because I was weak and a book nerd. There was a time when I didn't care about my well-being because of this. If I hadn't had a couple of really good friends, I likely would have begun actively hurting myself. There was another kid in my school who could have been my clone. He did kill himself.

Secondly, at least in America, kids are given ridiculous, unmonitored access to the internet and similar technology.

[Thems Fighting Words]

Originally Posted by sirdarksol

First of all, psychological bullying is just as bad (if not worse) than physical bullying. Physical bullying rarely lasts long, because there are signs that it is happening, and there's usually at least one responsible adult in a kid's life to see the bruises and do something about it. I was only hit twice as a kid, but I was treated like garbage at times because I was weak and a book nerd. There was a time when I didn't care about my well-being because of this. If I hadn't had a couple of really good friends, I likely would have begun actively hurting myself. There was another kid in my school who could have been my clone. He did kill himself.

Secondly, at least in America, kids are given ridiculous, unmonitored access to the internet and similar technology.

Guess it comes down to experience. I never really noticed the verbal aspects of bullying all that much growing up. Maybe because they were racial taunts (as opposed to targeting me specifically). Or maybe I just had thick skin. Physical bullying was more obvious to me. One of my friends always got physically bullied because he was a very skinny book worm and a few times I had to step in because I felt his safety was in danger (guys pulling knives, trying to throw him down steps etc).

As for internet access. Australia has a lot (and I mean a lot) of filters and the government runs anti-bullying groups (including recruiting school age kids as monitors).

[disgruntled]

i never had to deal with many physical threats, i mostly had to deal with that girl bullying where they target your self worth

[sirdarksol]

Originally Posted by Thems Fighting Words

One of my friends always got physically bullied because he was a very skinny book worm and a few times I had to step in because I felt his safety was in danger (guys pulling knives, trying to throw him down steps etc).

See, this kind of thing just didn't fly in the area I lived in. Parents, teachers, even the jocks noticed it and put a stop to it. To the jocks, picking on the nerds was cool, but beating them up (excessively) wasn't. I'm not saying that there weren't fights, but kids didn't get repeatedly beat up just because they were bookworms.

[Thems Fighting Words]

Originally Posted by disgruntled

i never had to deal with many physical threats, i mostly had to deal with that girl bullying where they target your self worth

Mind you, "gilr bullying" seems to be getting more physical these days. Lats week alone I watched two incidents on the news where high school girls were beaten up by other high school girls. Only reason they got caught so easily is that in both instances the assaults were taped on vid-phones.

Originally Posted by sirdarksol

See, this kind of thing just didn't fly in the area I lived in. Parents, teachers, even the jocks noticed it and put a stop to it. To the jocks, picking on the nerds was cool, but beating them up (excessively) wasn't. I'm not saying that there weren't fights, but kids didn't get repeatedly beat up just because they were bookworms.

While the jocks did tease my friend, it wasn't them who physically bullied him. It was the more anti-social groups who I guess felt "better" about themselves by picking on someone lower on the social rung. Also a way to get money.